US inciting civil war in Venezuela to get its oil – Bolivia’s Morales

An anti-government protester, with the Venezuelan flag, kicks back a gas canister to police during a demonstration in which masked youths battled police and blocked a main highway in Caracas April 21, 2014 (Reuters / Christian Veron)

Washington is pushing Venezuela towards a “civil war” because it wants access to the country’s rich oil reserves, Bolivian President Evo Morales has warned. The Venezuelan government has also accused the US of fomenting a coup d’état.

Addressing over 3,000 young people at a Latin American Youth
Summit in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz, Morales branded the US
an “empire” with its eye on Venezuelan oil wealth.
Morales said that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was
blameless in the recent wave of unrest in the country and accused
Washington of orchestrating a civil war.

“I believe [the US] are trying to incite if not a coup d’état
then a civil war from their empire,” Morales said. “They
are always going to sponsor internal conflict so that they can
interfere and invade us to take control of our oil
reserves.”

The world needs an “anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist and
anti-colonial youth,” said Morales, urging Latin Americans
to stand together in solidarity with Venezuela. Morales said
there was no danger of a coup d’état in Bolivia since the
government had ejected US Ambassador Phillip Golberg in 2008
after he was accused of collaborating in a plot to overthrow the
government.

Venezuela has been gripped by a wave of anti-government protests
since February which has left at least 41 dead and over 600
injured. The Venezuelan government has recognized people’s right
to demonstrate, but has accused foreign-backed, right-wing
extremists of hijacking the protests in an attempt to oust
Maduro.

At present, the Maduro government is in dialogue with some of the
members of the opposition movement to try and find a peaceful
solution to the conflict. The opponents of the government
complain that Venezuela is experiencing massive inflation and
shortages of basic food products, as well as frequent power cuts.

‘Economic war’

Maduro announced last week that Venezuela was facing an
“economic war” and as such his government intended to
fight back with a new “offensive” to combat capitalism. He set
out the main aims of the new initiative on Monday, including the
encouragement of supply and production and the stabilization of
prices in Venezuela.

“This new economic offensive should bring prosperity to the
people and the country. Neoliberalism speaks of growth, but
growth for whom? For those that always had wealth, not the
have-nots,” Maduro said.

Maduro has previously blamed the strife in Venezuela on
Washington, saying that the US is orchestrating the unrest with a
view to overthrowing his government. In March, Caracas’s foreign
minister, Elias Jaua, accused US Secretary of State John Kerry of
inciting murder and violence in Venezuela. Washington has denied
any links to the ongoing unrest and maintains the Venezuelan
government is terrorizing its own people.